2025 Mid-Atlantic Garden, Lawn, and Other Green Stuff Thread

[dailylurker]

11 minutes ago, IronTy said:

I screwed up and set my tomato and pepper seedlings outside I nthe shade for 2hrs one day last week and I guess it was too dry and windy, they shriveled up and died.  So now I have to start over.  Argh.  

Lol we all make that mistake. I like to harden off my seedlings. You need to keep the soil cool. I put straw around the pots. Even on a cool day the sun can heat the soil and fry the delicate roots. 

[IronTy]

1 hour ago, dailylurker said:

Lol we all make that mistake. I like to harden off my seedlings. You need to keep the soil cool. I put straw around the pots. Even on a cool day the sun can heat the soil and fry the delicate roots. 

That's what I thought I was doing but I guess I underestimated how dry and windy it was outside at the time.  Lesson learned.  By the time my new seedlings are large enough luckily it'll be warmer and more humid outside.  Hopefully.  

[MDSnow93]

5 hours ago, IronTy said:

That's what I thought I was doing but I guess I underestimated how dry and windy it was outside at the time.  Lesson learned.  By the time my new seedlings are large enough luckily it'll be warmer and more humid outside.  Hopefully.  

The two main things the hardening off process is for are sun exposure and wind exposure. As well as adapting to a broader range of temps. The sun part is obvious, but the stems and roots are really not equipped to handle any real wind. A calm day is best, and I also usually start with one hour on the first day. Then slowly add on a couple more hours before gradually adding time in slightly sunnier spots. It's tedious, but I put a lot of time and effort into my seedlings. So I make sure they all make it through the home stretch! Good luck with the next batch! At this point it seems like ground sowing might be a safe bet for a lot of things! But I know more about plants, and less about weather.

[GramaxRefugee]

Am I the only one who's had more ticks this year? Seems like I've been pulling off a tick-a-day for the past 10 days. About half have been Lone Star ticks. Most since 2019 maybe.

I sprayed some Bifen/IT around certain areas, and thought it helped, but haven't had much chance to follow up.

[wxdude64]

1 hour ago, GramaxRefugee said:

Am I the only one who's had more ticks this year? Seems like I've been pulling off a tick-a-day for the past 10 days. About half have been Lone Star ticks. Most since 2019 maybe.

I sprayed some Bifen/IT around certain areas, and though it helped, but haven't had much chance to follow up.

Yep, same here. I've pulled 3/4 off me in last week. Wonder if the dry spell we had back in April had anything to do with the 'abundance'?

[CAPE]

Back in early Spring I planted a bunch of native wildflower seeds at the back part of the yard near the edge of the woods. Lots of growth there now and starting to see beginnings of some blooms.

I was thinking of making most of my back yard clover + wildflowers. Tired of dealing with the grass that never survives the Summer and constant reseeding process. White clover naturally takes over in those areas anyway, so why not just plant the stuff. Low maintenance drought tolerant ground cover.

Something like this from The Vermont Wildflower Farm, although this seed mix also has some grass mixed in-

https://www.vermontwildflowerfarm.com/products/magic-carpet-mix?variant=46441269920051&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=209329693&gbraid=0AAAAAD-xHrEgHFgrwptzJzqv-zz5ffLaA&gclid=CjwKCAjw3MXBBhAzEiwA0vLXQQSxPeRduIIZfvkIVk0P13QBd_cZ8nhsqIvaqhVr8ceckp02xKXd2hoCHWIQAvD_BwE

[dailylurker]

21 minutes ago, CAPE said:

Back in early Spring I planted a bunch of native wildflower seeds at the back part of the yard near the edge of the woods. Lots of growth there now and starting to see beginnings of some blooms.

I was thinking of making most of my back yard clover + wildflowers. Tired of dealing with the grass that never survives the Summer and constant reseeding process. White clover naturally takes over in those areas anyway, so why not just plant the stuff. Low maintenance drought tolerant ground cover.

Something like this from The Vermont Wildflower Farm, although this seed mix also has some grass mixed in-

https://www.vermontwildflowerfarm.com/products/magic-carpet-mix?variant=46441269920051&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=209329693&gbraid=0AAAAAD-xHrEgHFgrwptzJzqv-zz5ffLaA&gclid=CjwKCAjw3MXBBhAzEiwA0vLXQQSxPeRduIIZfvkIVk0P13QBd_cZ8nhsqIvaqhVr8ceckp02xKXd2hoCHWIQAvD_BwE

I've had good success with seed from American Meadows. They have native flower mixes for our area.  Nothing eats the flowers and they are drought resistant. 

[CAPE]

1 hour ago, dailylurker said:

I've had good success with seed from American Meadows. They have native flower mixes for our area.  Nothing eats the flowers and they are drought resistant. 

That's exactly where I got the wildflower seed mix I planted in the Spring. Great website.

For the rest of the back garden area, I want a clover field lawn with wildflowers mixed in. I will probably just buy white clover seeds and the flower seeds from American meadows and mix it in. That link in my other post was for the picture- showing the look I want(minus the grass).

[IronTy]

42 minutes ago, CAPE said:

That's exactly where I got the wildflower seed mix I planted in the Spring. Great website.

For the rest of the back garden area, I want a clover field lawn with wildflowers mixed in. I will probably just buy white clover seeds and the flower seeds from American meadows and mix it in. That link in my other post was for the picture- showing the look I want(minus the grass).

About ten years ago I abandoned the lawn merry-go-round and let my front yard go back to nature.  Planted a few trees and shrubs and now it looks like a maturing second growth forest.  Very nice.  Same with my back yard sans the septic field.  I have a few small lawn patches left but they're mostly shade and have turned into moss which looks a good as lawn but doesn't need any water or cutting.  Used to have to mow my lawn weekly but now I only break out the mower about twice a summer.  Not sure how big lawns ever became desirable.  

[CAPE]

15 minutes ago, IronTy said:

About ten years ago I abandoned the lawn merry-go-round and let my front yard go back to nature.  Planted a few trees and shrubs and now it looks like a maturing second growth forest.  Very nice.  Same with my back yard sans the septic field.  I have a few small lawn patches left but they're mostly shade and have turned into moss which looks a good as lawn but doesn't need any water or cutting.  Used to have to mow my lawn weekly but now I only break out the mower about twice a summer.  Not sure how big lawns ever became desirable.  

Yeah I have plenty of moss. Where it grows, I leave it, but weeds grow through it. One side of my back yard(the area over the septic drain field) gets a lot of sun in the summer, and it wont grow there.

[wxdude64]

Was just coming to comment my yard looks the best it has in years with the cool temps and rain, lol. I reseeded back in early April. Then I read all the comments about going native and letting the yards go. I am almost there myself, have to replant 60-70% of the 'yard' (I live in the woods, only real opening is what I took down to build the house plus about 50 foot all around) about every other year, mostly on the edges and what I have going slightly into the woods. Agree 100% on the moss, N and NE shaded spots that get little sun it grows well!

[nw baltimore wx]

If ivy was money, I'd be wealthy.

[CAPE]

3 minutes ago, nw baltimore wx said:

If ivy was money, I'd be wealthy.

Dandelions and Wild Violets for me. The latter spreads like crazy and hard to kill.

[CAPE]

On 5/13/2025 at 8:29 AM, GramaxRefugee said:

Am I the only one who's had more ticks this year? Seems like I've been pulling off a tick-a-day for the past 10 days. About half have been Lone Star ticks. Most since 2019 maybe.

I sprayed some Bifen/IT around certain areas, and thought it helped, but haven't had much chance to follow up.

Fucking ticks. In all the years I have lived here I never had one actually attach- they have always been big enough that I felt them crawling and got em before they bit.

Now twice in 3 weeks I have pulled tiny ones(probably larvae) off my scrotum.

Not been in the deep woods, just outside in the yard doing typical garden stuff. My concern was always eradicating mosquito larvae. Never worried much about ticks. Might have to do something this year.

[nw baltimore wx]

7 minutes ago, CAPE said:

Fucking ticks. In all the years I have lived here I never had one actually attach- they have always been big enough that I felt them crawling and got em before they bit.

Now twice in 3 weeks I have pulled tiny ones(probably larvae) off my scrotum.

Not been in the deep woods, just outside in the yard doing typical garden stuff. My concern was always eradicating mosquito larvae. Never worried much about ticks. Might have to do something this year.

That happened to me when I was like 7 years old. Two big ones on my little sack. You don’t forget that.

[CAPE]

Just now, nw baltimore wx said:

That happened to me when I was like 7 years old. Two big ones on my little sack. You don’t forget that.

I bet. My nephew had one square on his asshole when he was about that age lol.

These were definitely seeds. I knew something was there because of the itch. Took a magnifying glass to to confirm.